Freshman lawmaker John Walsh has hatched a new plan for making fast friends in the Senate: get in good with their hometown hooch producers.

The Montana Democrat plans to raise the bar on representing small batch booze makers by establishing the Senate Craft Distillers Caucus. He announced his intention to spearhead the liquor-friendly clique while soaking in the likes of Headframe Spirits , a Butte, Mont.-based distillery that specializes in bourbon, gin, vodka and a bourbon cream liqueur.

A Walsh aide said the newly minted solon is excited about tapping into the enterprising zeal of the spirits world — by Team Walsh’s count, Montana is currently home to 16 licensed distilleries — and hopes to recruit others to the task once everyone is back in town.

Or he could hedge his bets on locking down support for the group from Republican colleagues Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul by inviting them over next weekend for a Kentucky Derby viewing party and feeding them nothing but Maker’s Mark mint juleps.

Inserting himself into the bromance between Virginia Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine might take a little more work. May we suggest a boys' weekend in the scenic Shenandoah Valley, culminating with nightly campfires around which tall tales are spun and heroic amounts of Catoctin Creek's fiery Mosby’s Spirit or Copper Fox’s rye whiskey are swigged directly from the bottle.